'Freelancers with 5-10 yrs experience making up to Rs 19K/day'

According to 'Flexing It', a platform for flexible management talent in South and South East Asia, the 9-5 job is starting to be replaced by a new style of doing work.

NEW DELHI: Freelancers are earning good money as the median pay for a skilled independent professional increases from Rs 8,000 to Rs 19,000 per day as they move from experience range of 0-5 years to 5-10 years, says a report.

According to 'Flexing It', a platform for flexible management talent in South and South East Asia, the 9-5 job is starting to be replaced by a new style of doing work, one that revolves around an independent professional and the services needed to make them productive.

The top four in demand management skills sought by companies on a flexible profile include strategy, marketing, HR and IT, it said.

The compensation trends for independent consultant and freelancers in India, analysed the data from 2,500 professionals from India who have worked on projects with varied organisations including MNCs, large Indian corporates, start-ups, not for profits, consulting firms and government run enterprises, the report revealed.

The report noted the median pay for a skilled independent professional increases from Rs 8,000 to Rs 19,000 per day as they move from experience range of 0-5 years to 5-10 years.

It also noted that 73 per cent of all long term projects were delivered by professionals with more than 10 years of experience.

"There is an emergence of a segment of high calibre, independent consultants and professionals building their own brand and work portfolio based on their expertise," Flexing It Founder and CEO Chandrika Pasricha said.

Pasricha added that "we are now seeing the beginnings of larger enterprises also co-opting freelancers to retain flexibility, source very specific skills and push the envelope on their diversity initiatives to provide innovative engagement models to women professionals."

As per the study, women's representation falls to 32 per cent in the experience range of 10-20 years and to an alarmingly low 10 per cent in the experience range of 20 and above.

Most remunerative skills for freelancing include finance, general management, strategy and consulting, human resources and sales as they provide the highest compensation for professionals with more than 20 years of experience.

The study further noted that IT services, professional services, E-commerce and retail are industries seeking the highest numbers of independent Strategy and Consulting professionals.